freezing dried yeast

pmorrisjones

I often make one loaf in my breadmaker and then discover no one wants any more for another week. Can I freeze the leftover dried yeast? I read somewhere that once packet is open it only lasts 48 hours. Is this true? Thank you very much.

Jazzy_B

I keep dried yeast in a plastic box in the fridge. The longest time I've kept it for is about 3 or 4 months with no deterioration. I haven't kept it longer , because I've used it up by then, but i would carry on using it until it stopped working. I mainly use fresh yeast, which I often freeze. Defrosted fresh yeast works well. Hope someone else knows if you can freeze dried yeast.

Gingernutmeg

I've had a packet of dried yeast (Doves stuff, in the orange pack) on the go in an airtight jar for a good six months and it hasn't gone off and still works fine. I can't see why you'd need to freeze dried yeast, as if anything that's putting it in a 'damper' situation than if you kept it in an airtight jar in the cupboard. If you're worried, maybe go for the sachets rather than the pack, that way you'll only open what you need?

Biggles

It's live yeast that only lasts a few days (maybe a week or so in a plastic bag in the fridge).

Dried yeast lasts months and months with no change whatsoever, so far as I have ever been able to tell. As long as you keep it cool and dry, it's inert.

pmorrisjones

Thank you all very much. I do buy the sachets but rarely use a whole one before the 48 hours is up. I'll do a test loaf this week (after the 48hrs is up) and I expect it will work. Thanks again.